


Doubt

by StainedGlassDreams



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Brainwashing, CA: TWS, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Hydra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 14:30:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6614299
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StainedGlassDreams/pseuds/StainedGlassDreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumlow's thought process during the Bank scene, and the extent of Pierce's influences.<br/>Cut off one head, two more shall take it's place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Doubt

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this post: http://grillo.tumblr.com/post/143089972850/during-the-vault-scene-what-was-rumlow-thinking  
> & my own dissection of the scene (http://lostinastainedglassdaydream.tumblr.com/post/143147758997/grillo-during-the-vault-scene-what-was-rumlow)
> 
> This is my first time writing from any HYDRA perspective, but I wanted to capture what was said in the gif's, forgive me if I sucked x)  
> As always, Thank You so much for reading :)

"What I'm about to show you stays off the record."  
"Understood, sir."

He didn't know what couldn't be out of record, going into a bank at this hour.  
Hell, being called with STRIKE at this hour with the Pierce seemed out of place.  
The elevator creaked slowly, descending into the safety deposit box level, revealing armed men standing beside the gates.

2 labcoats came up to them. "Sir, he's unstable. E-erratic."

What the hell?...

The guards opened the door to reveal what appeared to be a man sitting in some weird medical chair, machinery around him as an IV bag swung quietly.  
Pierce nodded them to stand down, and honestly, Rumlow wasn't so damn sure.

He was told HYDRA had an "Asset", squirreled away somewhere in the freaking Baltic, for emergencies. Above his paygrade & he was never around for it. Earlier today was the first time he'd worked with him, and that was at a distance.  
He had a mask on so he never saw his face. Until now.  
He looked in peak condition. Had seen some nasty prosthetics on guys in the Army, their infections on field leaving some nasty scarring.  
As painful as those looked, it had nothing on the Asset's. That arm...

Another thought buzzed around, seeing him, this raw. Why did he look so familiar?...

Pierce asked for a mission report.  
The man sat, seemingly lost in his own mind.  
He asked one more time, before backhanding him.  
It seemed to bring the guy around, the man blinking back to life as he asked, "There's a man on the bridge... Who was he?"

Who the fuck was he talking about?

"...You met him earlier this week on another assignment.", Pierce replied, his voice an obvious lie but...He didn't see it.  
Another pause. "...I knew him.", the statement itself heavier than the situation, if that was even possible.

Well, of course everyone knew Rogers, he was a damn sentinel.  
Why did Pierce look suddenly scared for a moment?  
And as he sat down, it suddenly all clicked.

Recognition registering as he knew now why the man looked so familiar.  
He knew him from the case files on Rogers.

The fucking guy was Bucky Barnes.

It all made sense. The mask, the worry on Pierce's face. He had no memory of who he was.  
How the hell did they get him?... He was KIA in '45..

"And HYDRA can't give the world the freedom, it deserves."  
Barnes paused. The words looking like they hurt to leave his throat, drenched in uncertainty. "But I knew him."  
Pierce sat there for a moment, before getting up, the chair slowly spinning. He then looked over to one of the labcoats, "Prep him."  
The doctor said something about him being out of cryofreeze for too long and a knot undid itself in his stomach.  
He didn't even think that existed. Made more sense now how he looked two years older than how he did in the SSR files he checked out on Cap.  
"Then wipe him, & start over." They'd been turning his mind to mush.

Pierce looked like a lecturing parent, how his Father looked when he scolded him and his brother, but Barnes. Barnes looked like the world had ended in front of his eyes.  
The machine behind Barnes began to hum & for the first time, he actually questioned if this was too much.

He saw the necessity, if Barnes was remembering Rogers, then there would be no way for him to complete the missions.  
The knot continued as the coats went near him with apprehension, putting a mouth guard in his Barnes' mouth, as he then came to realize what the machine was, and why it was hidden down here.  
But this....He'd never actually seen this. Despite the fact he worked with Rogers, Bucky Barnes was the perfect soldier.  
The kind you aspire to be, especially as a sniper. Unwavering, and without ego. Even though the man sitting there didn't know it, Rumlow did.  
Maybe then, it's why he found himself turning away as the machines lowered down onto Barnes' head,  
electricity sizzled as he began to scream, cries echoing as they began to move out.  
Why he couldn't help but look back and actually wonder, for just a brief moment, if he was on the right team.

The thing he admired about Pierce, aside from his fierce dedication to the organization (another reason why he heard Zola favored Pierce as a child, even over Zemo's boy & that one was a quiet, and creepy menace), was he was always one step ahead of the game.  
So as STRIKE began to walk ahead, he wasn't exactly surprised when he stopped him. "Come with me, I want to speak with you."  
They walked into one of the hallways, lit by the moonlight outside as it shone on the empty hall floors; the sound of Pierce's dress shoes echoing as they came to a stop in the middle.  
"Commander, you're one of the few soldiers I can trust. You lead your team wherever we need you to go, without question, your dedication hasn't gone unnoticed here." He paused, smiling as his hands were in his pockets.  
"Thank You sir."  
"That's why I need you to understand what happened in there was necessary." He walked over to the nearby window. "Sargeant Barnes was entrusted to me by Zola, before the doctor became what he was." Turned back to face him. "He is Dr. Zola's greatest achievement. It's why we have to ensure that success? Stays with HYDRA, Commander."  
Maybe he was about to regret this. "I understand, sir. ...He was just a kid when he was declared KIA though."

Pierce looked at him like he was a specimen (wondered if he got that from Dr. Galaga), but showed zero emotion, or what he was even thinking. He was regretting this.  
"Brock," he said, walking toward him. "for all intents and purposes, Sergeant James Barnes was KIA in 1945." Stopped short of him. "HYDRA takes no prisoners. We make order, for the greater good. & you and I both know. Order only comes, with pain."  
He nodded. "Understood, sir."  
Pierce smiled again, patting his shoulder as he began to leave.

As usual, he was right.  
Barnes died years ago. What was left was The Asset. And that Asset had to be contained by order. No matter the pain.  
Cut off one head, two more shall take it's place.


End file.
